The Sunday scaries are that feeling of dread on a Sunday night. After the partying, brunching, mimosaing and hot girling has stopped and you begin to look at the week ahead of you. Whether you enjoy your job or not the feeling can still creep up on you. A LinkedIn study found that 80% of workers experience this feeling and 90% of millennials and Gen Z workers share this dread.
It's entirely normal, however frustrating and daunting the scaries can be. So let's work on ways to not feel this and rather start your week off on the right foot!
- Prep your meals for the week!
Whether you spend the time to meal prep each and every meal or sit down and plan out what you're having for each meal, meal prepping is a great way to set your intentions for the week, prioritise your health and can also get you excited for what is to come! Make sure to grab yourself some fun snacks, plan one night you eat out with friends, or add in your favourite dinner to your plans. This way you've spent time planning ahead in a fun and productive way. You have something you can look forward to, and if you're a foodie like us, you'll probably want to race to bed in order to get your week of yummy meals started.
- Pack early!
Instead of coming home on Friday, chucking everything off and forgetting about work until 8pm Sunday night when the scaries start creeping in, try to plan your Monday morning outfit. Pack everything you can into your work bag and set it down somewhere. Prep your outfit and sort that out. Then you can enter the weekend with just a little more weight off your shoulders. Come Sunday evening your bag will already be packed, your outfit chosen and you'll be able to spend longer enjoying your evening.
- Meditate
Perhaps a more obvious way to calm the dreadful feeling, meditation will definitely have you calming the mind and readying yourself for the week ahead. Make a routine of it, pack your bags for the week, lay out your outfit and then find a peaceful place to sit and unwind once more. Be present and in the moment in any way that suits you, whether that is through a yoga practice, reading a book, journaling about your week or simply by sitting silently with yourself. Headspace says that a regular meditation practice will help build awareness and resilience. Once we are able to objectively look at the week devoid of emotion or anxiety we are able to see a plan ahead of us without attributing dread.
- Plan something fun
Maybe your Sunday scaries are because the weekend has been so much fun, filled with friends and adventures and things you love. So take the time and plan a fun thing to do during the week. It's important to understand that you're working to live, not living to work. Find time in your busy schedule to have dinner with friends, go out for a movie, play some mid-week mini golf or simply enjoy the sunset outside. This way you have something to look forward to and something you can work towards.
It's a universal feeling but with a new perspective we may be able to move past the crushing dread that fills our Sunday evenings. If you are struggling in a more serious fashion consider reaching out to a professional, calling Lifeline on 13 11 14 or working with your GP to find a mental health plan to suit you. Work isn't everything but at the end of the day it's where we spent the majority of our time, so make sure you enjoy your work and your workplace. Don't put up with toxic people in your work life bringing you down and filling your evenings with useless anxiety. It's your life and you only get to live it once!